Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 1 Annalisa Sannino, Johanna Lasonen, Marianne Teräs University of Helsinki University of Jyväskylä The 2nd National Network Seminar of the European Migration Network, Helsinki, Experiencing and Formative Interventions: Facilitating Access and Integration in Finnish Work Life

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 2 OPENING UP PATHWAYS TO COMPETENCE AND EMPLOYMENT FOR IMMIGRANTS (“OPCE”) Subproject 1: Immigrant workforce competence, by Johanna Lasonen investigates first-generation work-based migration to Finland and to UK, in selected industrial sectors and localities Subproject 3: Intercultural learning among adolescents of ethnic minorities in Finland, by Marianne Teräs investigates pathways to education and work for minority secondary education students

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 3 Sub-project 2: Foreign professionals’ access to Finnish labour market OBJECTIVE 1: uncover obstacles experienced by highly educated foreign professionals in Finland in their attempts to be integrated in the Finnish work life in their respective domains of expertise OBJECTIVE 2: generate models and practical solutions for opening up institutional career pathways for these foreign professionals in selected public sector organizations

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki Phase 1 Videotaped interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with these professionals are conducted, in order to reconstruct their individual histories of integration or attempted integration in their specific domains of working life in Finland Preliminary analyses conducted on the first 25 interviews with a representation of 16 nationalities (8 European) and 17 professions with degrees ranging from BA-level to PhD © 2009 Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE4

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 5 A DOUBLE CHALLENGE Change in the age structure of the Finnish population within the next 10 years with a significant shortage of workforce in multiple sectors, in particular in social and health services Integration of workforce from abroad, a big change in itself for Finland (a country with only about 2,5% of foreign citizens, one of the lowest values in Europe), as one way to face this structural change

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki Finland is aware of this challenge: Serious concern in the discourse of Finnish politicians Improvement of information services for immigrants, e.g. the Infopankki and User Panel, funded by the State and municipalities Letter of intent with clear commitments from municipalities in the greater Helsinki area Finland is aware that this is the right time to face the challenge: Project launched by the Ministry of Interior for attracting foreign professionals Consistent ranking of Finland as the sixth among the most competitive economies in the world according to the Global Competitiveness Report Ranking of Finland among the best European countries for multilingualism as nearly 70% of Finns can speak at least two foreign languages, i.e., twice the average in European countries, according to Eurostat © 2009 Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE6

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 7 The case of a chemist Officially supported course of integration Arrived in 2007 from Syria to join his Finnish wife and children Immediately went to the Employment Office (Työvoimatoimisto) Beginning of the integration plan Started receiving the unemployment allowance Enrolled in a Finnish course Received the general language degree Training period Plans to enroll in a Finnish University to study Chemistry in a Master’s Program Steps STEP1 STEP2 STEP3 STEP4 STEP5 STEP6 STEP7 Individual experience Two months waiting Nine months after his arrival In one and half year, instead of three years Only cleaning training materialized for him To study more chemistry and in English!

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 8 Two conceptual avenues stemming from the data 1)Experiencing critical conflicts (Vasilyuk, 1988) Facing in interaction with other“a situation of impossibility or unintelligibility” (p. 199)“a situation of impossibility or unintelligibility” 2) Official and unofficial script (Gutiérrez & al., 1999) Developmental contexts are hybrid and involve official and unofficial scripts Unofficial scripts are often unknown, resisted or suppressed Key transformations can be promoted by working out tensions between the two scripts

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki 9 A third space between the official and the unofficial A third space of alternative interactions in which critical conflicts can be formulated and tensions can be transformed into possibilities of rich collaboration The official script The unofficial script

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki The creation of the third space through interventionist research A method developed in the mid-1990s at the University of Helsinki under the generic name of Change Laboratory (Engeström & al., 1996) Variations of this toolkit used in a large number of intervention studies in settings ranging from post offices and factories to schools, hospitals and newsrooms: e.g. Teräs (2007): analysis of a Change Laboratory process (called Culture Laboratory) aimed at the empowerment of immigrant students in a vocational training college © 2009 Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE10

Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE University of Helsinki Phase 2 A series of interventions based on the model of the Change Laboratory will be designed and carried out to facilitate the construction of new pathways of recruitment and integration of foreign professionals into jobs in public sector organizations Participants in these interventions will be key administrators and managers responsible for recruitment of personnel in their respective organizations. Data from Phase 1 will be used as case material (mirror) in the interventions to design concrete innovations to be implemented and experimented with © 2009 Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE11